Sheet-Isolated MoS₂ Used for Dispersing Pt Nanoparticles and its Application in Methanol Fuel Cells

It is highly challenging to activate the basal plane and minimize the π-π stacking of MoS₂ sheets, thus enhancing its catalytic performance. Here, we display an approach for making well-dispersed MoS₂ . By using the N-doped multi-walled carbon nanotubes (NMWCNTs) as an isolation unit, the aggregation of MoS₂ sheets was effectively reduced, favoring the dispersion of Pt nanoparticles (noted as Pt/NMWCNTs-isolated-MoS₂ ). Excellent bifunctional catalytic performance for methanol oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction (MOR/ORR) were demonstrated by the produced Pt/NMWCNTs-isolated-MoS₂ . In comparison to Pt nanoparticles supported on MoS₂ (Pt/MoS₂ ), the MOR activity (2314.14 mA mg_pt ^-1 ) and stability (317.69 mA mg_pt ^-1 after 2 h of operation) on Pt/NMWCNTs-isolatedMoS₂ were 24 and 232 times higher, respectively. As for ORR, Pt/NMWCNTs-isolated-MoS₂ holds large half-wave potential (0.88 V) and high stability (92.71 % after 22 h of operation). This work presents a tactic for activating the basal planes and reducing the π-π stacking of 2D materials to satisfy their applications in electrocatalysis. In addition, the proposed sheet-isolation method can be used for fabricating other 2D materials to promote the dispersion of nanoparticles, which assist its application in other fields of energy as well as the environment.